European monitors have found a record number of 57 different “legal highs”
this year as technically legal psychoactive substances compete with those
classed as illegal as young people’s drug of choice.

The rising popularity of legal highs is fuelled by a surge in the number of
online outlets selling them, according to the annual report of the
Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction,
published today.

It says that the number selling to EU states has risen from 170 in 2010 to 693
identified earlier this year in a snapshot survey.